Rates on the most popular types of mortgages moved slighty higher according to HSH.com's Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) rose by four basis points (0.04 percent) to 4.19 percent, returning to levels seen two weeks ago. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates increased by three basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 3.17 percent.
"With the Labor Day holiday behind us, it's back to business," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com. "The latest report on labor markets notwithstanding, business seems to be pretty good, as the most recent economic reports all suggest an economy more than holding its own at the moment. News of stronger growth tends to lift interest rates, and the little bounce this week reflects this."
Last week, reports from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) covering the manufacturing and service sectors of the economy both moved to multi-year highs, and sales of new cars and trucks also came in much higher than expected. It appears that the auto industry has fully recovered from the effects of the recession, while layoffs of workers across the economy remain low.
"At the moment, mortgage rates don't really have much reason to break out of the range they've held since May," said Gumbinger. "However, if the economy continues to show signs of reliable strength, we are more likely to move away from the bottom of the range to something more in the middle or even toward the top of it. Even so, that would be an upward move of less than an eighth of a percentage point, so it's not as though things are poised to get expensive, even if a little uptrend for rates should form."
Average mortgage rates and points for conforming residential mortgages for the week ending September 9, according to HSH.com:
Conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 4.19 percent
►Average points: 0.17
Conforming 5/1-year adjustable-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 3.17 percent
►Average points: 0.08
Average mortgage rates and points for conforming residential mortgages for the previous week ending September 02 were, according to HSH.com:
Conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 4.15 percent
►Average points: 0.17
Conforming 5/1-year adjustable-rate mortgage
►Average rate: 3.14 percent
►Average points: 0.07
